Goldman, Apollo in Talks to Sell SpaceX’s $40 Billion AI Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc. are in talks with Wall Street investors to start selling portions of a roughly $40 billion chip financing deal for SpaceX, just as the AI boom braces for upheaval following a sweeping Democratic victory.

The two firms have begun approaching potential buyers for the multi-tranche financing, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal, structured to keep the debt off SpaceX's balance sheet, is the largest arrangement of its kind for GPUs on record, SpaceX has said.

In some cases, investors are being asked to purchase slices of as much as $500 million before the official syndication process starts, in an effort to swiftly close the transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Syndication is slated to start soon, according to the people.

Representatives for Apollo and Goldman declined to comment. A representative for SpaceX didn't respond to a request for comment.

Elon Musk's rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence venture announced the financing in October, with investors agreeing to the package before it priced.

That exposed lenders to market risk during a volatile period. Investors have retreated from the AI trade, questioning whether revenues can ever justify the breathtaking spend — a sentiment that turned lenders against some of SpaceX's neocloud competitors, including CoreWeave Inc.

Those pressures intensified after the Democrats swept into power in Congress following midterm elections, riding a wave of voter concerns over higher living costs and the war in Iran.

Data centers too became a fierce electoral flashpoint, particularly in Texas, which flipped blue just months after freezing new project approvals.

As the political landscape shifted overnight, the market reacted sharply, sending shares of both SpaceX and Tesla Inc. lower. SpaceX's data centers are based in Memphis, Tennessee, and it's developing other sites in Mississippi.

Under the $40 billion deal — a win for Musk — a special purpose vehicle managed by Apollo-backed Atlas SP will buy Nvidia Corp. chips and issue the debt held by lenders, Bloomberg previously reported. By using this structure, SpaceX protects its corporate credit ratings.